Physalis: care and landing in the country and at home

Physalis is the largest member of the nightshade family. Most species are found in South and Central America. The name comes from the Greek language, and translates as a bubble. This is due to the unusual shape of a bright cup of fused sepals, resembling an inflated flashlight made of corrugated paper. Growing and caring for the bushes are similar to tomatoes, which are the closest relatives of this crop.

Physalis Description

Physalis, most often, is a perennial plant with a partially stiffened straight or curved stem, from which a small number of branches depart. The height of the bush is 60-120 cm. The root system is powerful creeping.

The leaf plates are thin, curved, located opposite, form pairs in the upper tiers. Fastening are long petioles. In shape close to an oval or egg with a sharp peak. The edge has small notches or waves, the surface is glossy and matte.

Flowers are inconspicuous, with a diameter of 3 cm shades from cream to white. They are located on short peduncles in the axils of the leaves along the entire length of the shoots. The formation of buds has been going on since the end of spring and lasts 3 summer months.

The amniotic cup is airy, resembling a lantern made of corrugated paper, in some varieties its diameter reaches 5-6 cm. Inside the fruit is a juicy red-orange berry of a round shape with numerous seeds. Fruiting from June to September inclusive.

The bush is positioned as decorative, however, there are edible options, the useful properties of which are appreciated.

Types and varieties of physalis

The number of types of physalis is 120-124, however, they can be divided into 3 main groups:

• Decorative specimens are not edible and serve as decoration of flower beds. Varieties differ mainly in the height and dimensions of the flashlights.
• Physalis berry, an annual bush pollinated independently. The fruits are small, edible ones make jams, preserves, add to sweets, dry and put instead of raisins in baking.
• A vegetable crop type known as Mexican tomato or ground cherry. It has the original color of foliage: swamp green, yellow and purple.

Another group is universal, berries are used both for preservation and various types of culinary processing, as well as fresh.

For familiarization with the main varieties belonging to each group, the table is attached:

Growing physalis from seeds: planting and care

Physalis is suitable for growing even for beginners. Bushes are usually obtained in seedlings, and in regions with warm winters, you can sow seeds immediately into the ground. In the spring: all of April or early May. If you sow in October, the harvest will be in the next season. The shelf life of planting material is 4-5 years.

Before planting in the soil, the seeds must be checked for germination by a slightly salted solution. Surfaced to the surface are rejected. Next, disinfect with dark pink manganese or chlorhexidine diluted in water.

The closest relatives of physalis are tomatoes and peppers. Therefore, you can buy soil for these vegetables or prepare a mixture of soil from peat, humus or compost, turf land and sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1: 0.5. To reduce acidity, you can add half a glass of ash or 2 tbsp. dolomite flour for every 5 l. The substrate also needs to be treated against infections and pest larvae. For this, a double boiler is suitable, in which you can hold the soil mixture for an hour or in the oven at a temperature of 200 ° C. You can also use fungicides. This will eliminate the threat of bacterial diseases. After 24 hours, the land is ready for work.

In regions with a strong temperature difference, heat-loving physalis is grown by seedlings. This will help to get a crop on the bushes rather than when sowing in open ground. Sow optimally 30-45 days before moving to a permanent place. Containers with a capacity of 500 ml each are suitable or if the choice is stopped on a common box, the seeds should be placed according to the 6X8 system. In the future, such a scheme will eliminate additional picking.

Next, the container is half filled with the prepared nutrient substrate. Seed material is laid out on the ground and covered with a small layer of soil on top. The next step will be careful watering at room temperature and creating a film shelter, you can use a plastic bag. Suitable conditions for germination are +20 ° C. After sprouts appear, the thermometer should not fall below +23 ° C. If all conditions are met, the seedlings will appear within 7-8 days. At low rates, seedlings will sprout in a month.

At first, it is important to maintain one level of air humidity and ventilate the room in order to protect young seedlings from the disease with a black leg. However, it should be noted that the plant negatively perceives drafts. With a short daylight, seedlings need to be highlighted with an LED phytolamp, including it in the evening for 3-4 hours. It is necessary to irrigate the soil drip and do it daily.

In the absence of growth or, on the contrary, pulling the bushes too actively up, it is necessary to fertilize, use diluted chicken droppings in a ratio of 20: 1. Such tinctures will need 5 liters per 1 m2. Also watered with complex fertilizers, which can be purchased in specialized stores.

If a pick is necessary, it should be carried out after the plants have a pair of real leaves. You need to transfer the bushes with an earthen lump, carefully trying not to damage the roots, in a container with a volume of about 10 cm.

Physalis is ready to transplant to a permanent place when it grows 5-6 leaf plates.

Care for physalis when growing in open ground

Care begins with the choice of a site for planting, a light bed or flower bed, protected from gusts of wind and drafts, is suitable. Bushes do not like a strong shadow; landing in a lowland will not do.

The best soil is fertile and loose, slightly alkaline or neutral in such a plant will give a good crop, pH - 5.0-7.0. Acidic medium does not fit at all, this situation can be corrected by adding wood ash or slaked lime. To start planting, the land is dug up from it, all plant residues and weeds are removed, and complex fertilizer for nightshade crops is added for every 1 m2.

It is optimal to plant physalis after cucumbers, beets, cabbage or carrots. Not recommended for 3 years after eggplant, pepper, potato or tomato. Compliance with this rule will reduce the risk of plant damage by bacteria in the soil for several seasons.

In the prepared soil, make furrows and place seeds in them, laying them out at small intervals. The distance between the rows is not less than 30 cm. After emergence, they must be thinned out, leaving the strongest bushes. The plants remaining after the picking can be rooted in another place, they quickly adapt, however, fruiting will begin later than in non-transplanted ones.

If the seedling method of propagating physalis is selected, then holes 30 cm deep should be made in the soil. Considering the strong branching of many varieties, the distance between plants should be 50-70 cm. It should be recessed into the ground to the first pair of leaves, and overgrown specimens should be placed at an angle. After sprinkling with earth, abundant watering is required. In the early days it is necessary to cover with a film, it can be removed after the plants take root in a new place.

After 14 days, fertilize using manure or chicken droppings, always diluted. Next, before forming the buds, use complex fertilizer. The subsequent ones are carried out no more than once every 7 days.

Bushes of tall varieties of physalis need support and garters for them, the rest will help the formation of bushes: pruning the tallest shoots. It will also favorably increase the weight of the berries.

Thanks to a developed and powerful root system, the plant is not afraid of drought. To reduce the amount of watering and loosening the earth, you need to create a mulching layer - you can pour peat.

Physalis after flowering

After flowering, important events are the collection of fruits and seeds, as well as the proper preparation of plants for cold weather.

Seed collection

Harvest physalis is removed from the bushes 30-60 days after planting in open ground, this occurs in late summer or September. Berries located on the lower tiers ripen faster; winter harvests can be made from them, eat fresh or to obtain seeds. To do this, harvested ripe fruits need to be cut into 2 parts and held for 24 hours in rainwater, then rub the pulp through a fine sieve. The remaining seed should be washed and dried.

Wintering

Perennial physalis adapts well and hibernates, the upper part of the bush dries up, and with the advent of spring new greens grow. Also, beautiful orange boxes can be cut and saved to complement the bouquets, and leaf plates can be removed. Cover the remaining roots in the ground with a layer of mulching material, for example, peat. Annual bushes must be collected and destroyed, and the soil in their place is well dug up.

Propagation of physalis

The decorative variety of the plant is perennial and can be propagated by seeds. Physalis spreads very quickly through the flowerbed and it is necessary to remove extra seedlings or dig in the limiters.

In addition to seeds, additional bushes can be obtained using cuttings that are harvested in mid-summer. On the shoot you need to leave 2-3 knots and dig into the ground by deepening by half. From above it is necessary to organize a film shelter, which can be removed after rooting and the emergence of new sheet plates. Care of cuttings is regular watering and protection from the active sun.

Another option is creeping rhizomes, parts of which can be moved to a new place. You should choose instances with well-formed shoots.

Growing physalis at home

If desired, any type of physalis can be grown at home, the main thing is to carefully follow the basic rules for caring for a plant:

• For heat-loving bushes, well-lit window sills and a temperature of +18 ... +25 ° C will be optimal. In summer, the best place of detention: ventilated balcony or loggia.

• The substrate can be used ready-made, bought in a store, the main condition is nutrition and organic richness.
• Watering should be regular, however, waterlogging should not be;
• When the house is kept, physalis is almost not susceptible to diseases and pest attacks. Periodic inspection, preventive measures and compliance with the conditions of care will completely eliminate these problems.
• Reproduction occurs, as well as in the open ground with the help of cuttings or shoots from the root, digged into individual pots.

Diseases and pests

Physalis is a plant resistant to various ailments and pest attacks. But sometimes, if the cultivation conditions are not respected or crop rotation is disturbed, this vegetable crop may become ill. The table will help you identify the problem and find its solution:

Mr. Dachnik recommends: beneficial properties and contraindications for the use of physalis

All parts of the edible physalis: berries, leaf plates, root system, as well as seeds contain a wide variety of optimally balanced organic substances. In a hundred grams is:

• A large amount of vitamin PP, it affects the functioning of the nervous, digestive and circulatory systems.
• Ascorbic acid helps withstand stress and seasonal fatigue, colds and respiratory illnesses. Also better absorption of iron from plant foods.
• B1 - taking part in the metabolism of the body, as well as phosphorus, which strengthens bones and teeth.
• A - which has a beneficial effect on the eyes and maintains vision at a high level.
• 18 different fatty amino acids.
• Beta-carotene and pectin, which regulates blood sugar and allows you to include this culture in diet food.
• Micro and macro elements.
• Lycopene, which gives a bright color to the fruit, fights cancer cells.
• Calorie content of berries - 53 kcal.

This plant is considered medicinal and beneficial to human health. Fruits are used, their juice, as well as roots, which must be stocked in the fall. It is believed that the use of physalis helps with pain, bleeding, successfully fights with germs, promotes the production of bile. It has a good effect on bowel function and helps with constipation.

The fruits are very useful specifically for women as a means of stopping severe bleeding, as well as removing inflammatory processes. After use, there is a positive trend in the course of diseases such as cystitis, pyelonephritis.

Since ancient times, in traditional medicine of many countries of the world, decoctions and tinctures from fruits from such ailments as:

• hepatitis;
• urolithiasis disease;
• rheumatism;
• gout;
• swelling and bruising.

Fresh berries or juice from them is used to treat hypertension: you need to eat 5-7 fruits daily. It also helps against tonsillitis, stomatitis and laryngitis: 1 tbsp. l 3 times a day. As a means of stopping bleeding, from cough and pain, decoctions from the roots of the plant are suitable.

However, as with any remedy, there are contraindications:

• In food and as a medicine, only vegetable and berry species can be used. Decorative physalis is poisonous and it is strictly not recommended to use it.

• With caution, it should be used by people suffering from high acidity. You need to start with 1-2 pieces, increasing the dose gradually. This also applies to those who have thyroid problems or ulcers.
• The ground parts contain alkaloids that are toxic to the body and therefore cannot be used as a medicine.
• Fruits must be fully ripe, unripe berries can cause serious damage to health.
• In some cases, it can cause drowsiness, and consuming large amounts can cause diarrhea.

Physalis originally looks on the flowerbed, even a novice gardener will cope with its cultivation. Correct and careful implementation of the recommendations will help to get a plentiful harvest of tasty and ripe berries that benefit the human body.